More Highlights from Jewish Perspective E-Mail Journal

[arubyan <arubyan...>]

Here Is What Is Happening At Jewish Perspective
===============================================
Join the hundreds of people who read Jewish Perspective every week!  They 
subscribe because of the interesting, informative and insightful content 
published there.

Our discussion leader  is Aaron Bergman, a graduate of the University of 
 Michigan and the Jewish Theological Seminary. He is thirty-one 
years old and a rabbi of a suburban Detroit congregation.  He 
has lectured widely on such diverse topics as Jewish mysticism 
and sexuality in Jewish life.  

His perspective is fresh and contemporary while being grounded in the 
classical texts. 

See for yourself.  Below is another excerpt from a recent issue. 

<For information on how to subscribe to Jewish Perspective, 
scroll to the bottom of this post. >
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
A PASSION FOR TORAH 
By Rabbi Aaron Bergman 
 
Not Holier Than Thou 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
In the time that I have been a rabbi I have never married a couple.  I  
will never marry a couple.  In fact, no rabbi will marry a couple.  This 
 
is because under Jewish law a couple may only marry each other.  A  
bride and groom pledge their love and commitment to each other in  
front of witnesses, the kettubah is read, and the wedding blessings  
recited.   
 
I may get in trouble with my union for telling you this, but a rabbi does 
 
not have to be present, except ironically, to satisfy the state*s  
requirement that a certified member of the clergy sign the marriage  
certificate and officiate during the ceremony.   To satisfy Jewish law,  
any Jew knowledgeable in Judaism, and observant of the  
commandments, may officiate.  Even in this capacity, the person does  
not make the couple married, but for all practical purposes acts as the  
referee, making sure the rules are followed and that there are no  
personal fouls.  By contrast, in some other religions, it is the priest 
or  
minister who formally declares the couple married.  Without this  
declaration by the clergy, no marriage can take place.   
 
A rabbi, however, is not G-d*s replacement on earth, or even G-d*s  
chosen agent.  Rabbis are no holier than any other observant Jew, or  
one could argue ANY Jew.   
 
Some History 
^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
The position of rabbi is relatively recent by Jewish standards, going  
back only eighteen or nineteen hundred years.  This may sound like a  
long time, but it means there were no rabbis present at the giving of  
the Torah.  Moses himself was not called Moshe Rabbienu, Moses our  
teacher, at the time.  There were no rabbis when Solomon built the  
first Holy Temple, the Beit Hamikdash in Jerusalem, though I do not  
know how this affected the fundraising efforts.   
 
There were no rabbis when the Maccabees defeated the Greek Syrians.   
The first time we begin to hear about a group of people called rabbis is 
 
toward the end of the Second Temple period, and particularly after the  
destruction of the Second Temple.  To understand the development of  
the rabbinate we need to look at Judaism before this period.  
 
Priests And The Temple 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
For the previous thousand years, from the ninth century BCE to the  
First century of the Common Era, Judaism was centered in the  
Temple, as performed by the priesthood.  Jews atoned for sin through  
the offering of sacrifices.  This is also the way that Jews thanked G-d  
and made requests to G-d.  All ritual was performed by the priests.   
This means that for the average Jew, Torah study was an insignificant  
part of their lives.  They only needed to know as much as the priests  
told them in order to fulfill their religious obligations.  There was no 
 
such thing as regular individual or even communal prayer.  The people  
did not pray directly to G-d, but used an intermediary, the priest, to  
convey their prayers to G-d.  
 
Jews during the time of the Temple did not even keep kosher in the  
way that we do.  Of course, they did not eat pork or shellfish, and they 
 
did drain the blood out of meat.  However, there is no indication that  
animals consumed for everyday meals and not sacrifices were  
slaughtered by the laws of shechitah.  Jews did not say netilat yadiim,  
the prayer for purifying the hands at everyday meals, nor is there any  
indication that they waited at all to eat dairy products after eating  
meat.  All issues of ritual and purity were left up to the Temple and the 
 
priesthood.   
 
This created two problems.  The first was that it led to the eventual  
corruption of the priesthood.  Since only they had access to knowledge  
and ritual, they became answerable to no one but themselves.  The  
other problem was greater.  The people felt a greater and greater  
distance between themselves and their Jewishness, and between  
themselves and G-d.  The destruction of the Temple could have led to  
a complete severance between G-d and Jewish people.   
 
<To Be Continued> 
 
Rabbi Aaron Bergman 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
At Jewish Perspective Rabbi Bergman leads an open forum 
where Jews from all Jewish movements can 
discuss controversial topics.  For 
example, what does Jewish tradition have to say about sex, 
politics, government, privacy, technology, abortion, and/or gun 
control?  His comments will be grounded in the classic Jewish 
literature such as Torah, Talmud and Midrash, but will be 
relevant to our times. Rabbi Bergman is also a budding electric 
blues guitarist.  

The opinions of all Jews are welcome, with the most interesting 
shared with others.  All that is needed is an open mind and a 
sense of humor, irony and/or sparkling wit. We would welcome 
your taking part in our discussions.

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Thanks again for your attention.

Ara Rubyan
Electronic Publishing Network